A theoretical study on La-activated bicyclo-oligomerization of acetylene to form naphthalene in gas phase using density functional theory (DFT)

In a recent experimental research, the formation of naphthalene has been demonstrated by La-mediated acetylene bicyclo-oligomerization in the gas phase, and this is the first report of metal-activated acetylene bicyclo-oligomerization to form the naphthalene. In this work, the complete reaction mechanism has been systematically analyzed on the doublet potential energy surface by employing density functional theory (DFT), the results showed that the computational results were consistent with experimental dates. Among them, two possible reaction pathways were identified: (1) LaC₄H₂ is formed by a second addition of acetylene molecule to LaC₂H₂ followed by dehydrogenation (path (a)). (2) First, dehydrogenation of LaC₂H₂, followed by the addition of a second acetylene molecule (path (b)), we found that the optimum pathway was path (a). According to the thermodynamic point of view, the reaction is highly exothermic and favorable. In addition, sequential acetylene additions coupled with dehydrogenation showed that the bicycle-oligomerization reaction can occur. For further analysis of the observed kinetic behavior, the energetic span model was utilized and confirmed the TOF-determining transition state (TDTS) and TOF-determining intermediate (TDI) of the overall reaction. Finally, the optimum path was found and demonstrated.